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.\" Copyright (c) 1997 Joerg Wunsch
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.\" $Id: strptime.3,v 1.1.1.1 2006/05/30 06:12:20 hhzhou Exp $
.\" "
.Dd May 8, 1997
.Dt STRPTIME 3
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm strptime
.Nd parse date and time string
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Fd #include <time.h>
.Ft char *
.Fn strptime "const char *buf" "const char *format" "struct tm *timeptr"
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Fn strptime
function parses the string in the buffer
.Fa buf
according to the string pointed to by
.Fa format ,
and fills in the elements of the structure pointed to by
.Fa timeptr .
Thus, it can be considered the reverse operation of
.Xr strftime 3 .
.Pp
The
.Fa format
string consists of zero or more conversion specifications and
ordinary characters.
All ordinary characters are matched exactly with the buffer, where
white space in the format string will match any amount of white space
in the buffer.
All conversion specifications are identical to those described in
.Xr strftime 3 .
.Pp
Two-digit year values, including formats
.Fa %y
and 
.Fa %D ,
are now interpreted as beginning at 1969 per POSIX requirements.
Years 69-00 are interpreted in the 20th century (1969-2000), years
01-68 in the 21st century (2001-2068).
.Sh RETURN VALUES
Upon successful completion,
.Fn strptime
returns the pointer to the first character in
.Fa buf
that has not been required to satisfy the specified conversions in
.Fa format .
It returns
.Dv NULL
if one of the conversions failed.
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr date 1 ,
.Xr scanf 3 ,
.Xr strftime 3
.Sh AUTHORS
The
.Fn strptime
function has been contributed by Powerdog Industries.
.Pp
This man page was written by
.ie t J\(:org Wunsch.
.el Joerg Wunsch.
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Fn strptime
function appeared in
.Fx 3.0 .
